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This address was originally delivered at the
Campbell University Divinity School Commissioning Service
February 8, 2000
Lessons of the Celtic Cross (1 Corinthians 1:18-25, 2:1-5)
 Dr. Steven R. Harmon, Assistant Professor of Christian Theology 

            The most common symbol of the Christian faith is the cross.  The cross isn’t the oldest symbol of the Christian faith—that honor belongs to a symbol that appeared frequently in early Christian art called the orant.  The orant was a depiction of a standing female with arms outstretched in the ancient position of prayer.  The orant symbolized the church at prayer, but it also reminded early Christians of the cross.  Their very posture whenever they prayed reminded them that the cross was right at the center of what it meant to be Christian. 

            The Divinity School pin you’ve just received ought to have the same function.  There’s no better symbol of what it means to be Christ-centered, Bible-based, and ministry-focused than the cross.  We learn that from the text David Betts read from 1st Corinthians earlier in the service.  When the Apostle Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians of the Christ-centeredness of the message he shared with them, he qualified that in terms of the cross: “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”  The cross reminds us to be Christ-centered. 

            Paul quotes from his Bible, from Isaiah 29:14, to point to the cross as the essence of God’s wisdom.  The core of the Christian Bible is the fourfold Gospel canon.  The single largest section in each of the four Gospels is the passion narrative, the story of the crucifixion of Jesus.  It’s been pointed out that the Gospels are essentially passion narratives with long introductions.  The early Christian preaching that forms the substructure of so much of the New Testament emphasizes Christ crucified.  To be Bible-based is to major on the message of the cross; the cross in turn reminds us to be Bible-based. 

            The cross is the very definition of what it means to be ministry-focused.  To serve as Christ served is to identify with what the world regards as weak, foolish, lowly, despised.  That’s what Jesus did on the cross.  The cross reminds us to be ministry-focused. 

            The Divinity School cross is a particular kind of cross.  It’s a Celtic cross, the form of the cross that first appeared in ancient Ireland and Scotland, the cross of the people who eventually settled this part of North Carolina.  The story and symbolism of the Celtic cross have much to teach us about what it means to be Christ-centered, Bible-based, and ministry-focused. 

            The popular version of the story credits St. Patrick with creating the Celtic cross.  Supposedly when Patrick went to work evangelizing the Celts, he took the familiar Latin form of the cross and superimposed it on the sunwheel, a pagan Celtic solar symbol.  Like most such legends, that’s not quite how it happened.  But there’s a kernel of historicity in the legend, for the Celtic cross did have its antecedents in pagan Celtic symbolism.  In fact, in pre-Christian Ireland there were sacred standing-stones that looked very much like the later high crosses of Celtic Christianity.  The pioneers of Christianity in Ireland sometimes reconsecrated these as Christian monuments and inscribed them with Christian symbolism. 

            The pagan sunwheel reminded the early missionaries to Ireland of another early Christian symbol, the wheel cross.  The wheel cross in turn had evolved from the familiar chi-rho symbol.  The Greek letter chi, the first letter in the title Christ—looks like an English “X”—was rotated until it formed the shape of a cross.  The Greek letter rho, the second letter in the title Christ—looks like an English “P”—was merged with the rotated chi, and then the whole symbol was enclosed in a circle.  Eventually the rho disappeared, leaving a cross in a circle, the wheel cross.  The combination of standing-stones with wheel crosses gave us the familiar form of the Celtic Christian high cross.  If you’re not familiar with it, by the way, there’s a replica of one on display in the Divinity School office. 

            Although it had connections with the sunwheel, through its connections with the chi-rho symbol the circle on the Celtic cross was primarily a symbol of Christ.  On some Celtic crosses, figures of the crucified Christ were carved into the center of the circle.  In light of that history, let the circle on your Divinity School pin remind you to be Christ-centered. 

            The ancient Celts were largely an illiterate people.  They didn’t have a Bible in their language, and even if they did most of them couldn’t read it.  But they could understand pictures.  Many of the Celtic high crosses were covered with scenes from the biblical story of God’s saving acts.  Those scenes were visible reminders of the story of the Gospel they heard from people like Patrick and Columba.  They helped transform their lives from being shaped by the stories of the Druidic deities to being shaped by the biblical story of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

            You too will minister to a biblically illiterate people.  Even Christians all too often don’t really know the biblical story of salvation.  I’ve taught college freshmen who grew up in the church, went to Sunday School, and still told me on a test that the apostle John delivered the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt!  We’re all shaped by the stories we internalize.  If it’s not the biblical story, it will be some other story.  According to Walter Wink, the common thread of most alternative stories from the Babylonian creation myths to modern movies and even children’s cartoons is the Myth of Redemptive Violence, the belief that violence saves [Walter Wink, The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millenium (New York: Doubleday, 1998), pp. 42-56].  That’s the story that shapes the lives of many people today.  We must counteract that story by telling and preaching and teaching the biblical story.  Our world needs ministers who are Bible-based.  Let the Celtic cross on your Divinity School pin remind you to be Bible-based in your preparation for ministry and your practice of ministry. 

            The story and symbolism of the Celtic cross also suggest to us a number of key characteristics of ministry-focused vocations and lives.  First, we must be incarnational. Incarnational ministry is about fleshing out the Gospel in a particular place.  The Celtic cross doesn’t look like a Latin cross because it developed in Ireland rather than Rome.  Its symbolism met the people where they were to communicate the Gospel to them in ways they could understand.  If we’re going to minister effectively to this age, we need to be diligent students of the Bible and diligent students of culture.  Let the Celtic cross remind you to be incarnational in doing Christian ministry. 

            Incarnation is only the first step.  We also need to emphasize transformation.  Although the ancient missionaries to Ireland met the Celtic tribes where they were by utilizing symbols from their own religion and culture, they didn’t leave them there.  They didn’t simply affirm Druidic religion.  They transformed it through the good news of Jesus Christ.  Christ himself is the pattern for this kind of ministry: Christ became like us so that we might become like him.  Let the Celtic cross remind you to allow the Christ who is incarnate in you to transform the lives of those you serve. 

            One of the main jobs of ministry-focused people is reconciliation.  The old Druidic standing-stones were symbols of the world-axis, the link between heaven and earth.  The Celtic high crosses transformed that symbolism to point to the crucified Christ as the only true link between heaven and earth.  Fallen humanity is alienated from God and alienated from neighbor, but the work of Christ overcomes that alienation and reconciles us to God and to one another. 

The distinctiveness of the Celtic Christian tradition reminds us of another aspect of that reconciliation.  Celtic Christian spirituality is renowned for its profound respect for nature.  Fallen humanity is alienated not only from God and neighbor, but also from the rest of God’s creation.  The work of Christ through us should also bring about reconciliation between human beings and the earth that sustains them. 

            The reconciling work of Christ symbolized by the Celtic cross points to our primary work as Christian ministers.  In the words of Paul in 2 Corinthians, we are “ministers of reconciliation.”  One of the titles for the Roman Catholic pope is Pontifex Maximus, Latin for “supreme bridge-builder.”  That’s the role of all ministers, all Christian believers: building bridges between heaven and earth, building bridges between alienated people.  The Celtic cross reminds us of that sacred task. 

            The product of reconciliation is community.  Celtic crosses were frequently decorated with intricate patterns of knotwork and unending weavings.  This suggests the interrelatedness that ought to characterize our relationships with God and with one another.  A world hungry for authentic community needs ministers skilled in community formation, skilled in weaving lives together.  The Celtic cross reminds us of that urgent need. 

            The story of the Celtic cross reveals not one interpretation of its symbolism, but several interpretations.  For example, does the circle in the Celtic cross represent Christ, or eternity, or the world?  Each interpretation makes the cross a meaningful symbol, a symbol full of meaning.  Such is the nature of interpreting the Bible and thinking about our faith.  You’ve heard the old saying, “Wherever there are two Baptists, there are three opinions?”  That applies not just to Baptists, but to Christians as a whole and to people in general!  You’ll leave divinity school equipped with the intellectual tools for accurate biblical exegesis and careful theological reflection.  If anyone will be qualified to determine the correct interpretation, the right opinion, it should be you.  But don’t let that go to your head.  Be open to the stories and interpretations and thoughts and questions of the people you serve.  Learn from them.   Struggle together with them to understand God and God’s purposes.  Humility and openness are also essential characteristics of ministry-focused persons. 

            Catholic and Orthodox Christians and some in the Anglican tradition trace the sign of the cross upon their body as part of their private devotion and corporate worship.  Although this action is sometimes performed for other purposes, its most basic significance is a reminder to oneself to live the life of the cross.  I hope your Divinity School pin will have a similar function.  Whenever you wear it, wherever you see it, may this Celtic cross emblem of the Campbell University Divinity School be a reminder to be Christ-centered, Bible-based, and ministry-focused.  Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.